Direct Line with Vladimir Putin
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin was broadcast live on Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.
April 14, 2016
15:40
Moscow
12 of 25
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
During the live broadcast that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, the President answered 80 questions out of the over 3 million that were received.
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Valeriya Korableva, reporter at Channel One: Good afternoon. We are live with the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin and today’s programme hosts, Yevgeny Rozhkov and Valeriya Korableva.
Yevgeny Rozhkov, reporter at VGTRK:This is a joint project between Channel One and Rossiya television channel. You can watch the broadcast live on Rossiya-24, too, and listen live on radio stations Mayak, Vesti FM, and Radio Rossii.
Valeriya Korableva: Our colleagues Olga Ushakova, Vera Krasova, Nailya Asker-zade, and Olga Pautova will be helping us in the studio, and Tatyana Remezova and Natalya Yuryeva are working at the call centre.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Let me say a few words about our guests.
We have the heroes of TV reports here today, people from all walks of life, doctors, teachers, workers, businesspeople, farmers, students, scientists, military personnel, law enforcement officers, and others.
Valeriya Korableva: The issues raised include rising prices, the drop in living standards, bad roads, the housing and utilities sector, health sector problems, and conflict zones, old and new. We will talk today about all that is really on Russians’ minds. There are already many questions and they continue coming in.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: We will discuss the main issues today and put the big questions to the star of today’s programme – the President of the Russian Federation.
So, here, live, we have Vladimir Putin.
Valeriya Korableva: Good afternoon.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Good afternoon.
Mr President, this is the question processing centre, or the call centre, as we also call it. It is one of the few such centres specially established by Rostelecom to collect the questions people are sending to you for this direct line.
There are several centres because one alone would simply not cope with the volume. Dozens of messages are coming in every second – SMS and MMS messages and telephone calls. If you look around, you see the girls busy taking the many calls coming in.
At the computers over there they are taking video calls. We have someone right now who wants to put a question to you live. Incidentally, these video calls are one of the innovations of this year’s Direct Line.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Excellent.
Call centre operators of the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
Valeriya Korableva: Let me show you how it all works. The operator is taking the call right now. It’s a call from Omsk Region, a video call, and this young lady wants to put her question. It looks like a question about roads.
Vladimir Putin: Let’s hear the question.
Valeriya Korableva: There’s a real hail of questions about roads this year. Yes, let’s hear what she wants to ask.
Vladimir Putin: Go ahead. So, roads then, well, this means we get straight into the heart of things this year, without any warm-up.
Question: Hello, Mr President.
My name is Yekaterina and I am calling on behalf of the people of Omsk Region. We have a problem here, and it’s no small problem – it’s our roads. Take a look at what state they’re in. It’s just one pothole after another. Our cars break down on these roads, the wheels come off.
The authorities turn a deaf ear to our problems and pleas. We try to take action, organise petitions, but the authorities ignore us. The people here don’t have proper roads, no bicycle paths either, the trees are being cut down, and there’s mud everywhere.
Valeriya Korableva: Is this the centre of town or the outskirts?
Response: This is the centre of town. There’s also the question of the metro we’ve all been waiting for so long, but its construction isn’t going anywhere. We just get told that it will be built eventually.
Mr President, Omsk will soon celebrate its 300th anniversary. This is a symbolic date. The local people all hope that by this date at least our city will be a fresh new place with the roads and green spaces we ask for. Thank you very much.
Vladimir Putin: What is your name? Can she hear me?
Valeriya Korableva: Yes, she can hear you. You can talk.
Response: My name is Yekaterina.
Vladimir Putin: Yekaterina, this is indeed a problem that has worsened of late, strange as it may seem, given that we set up the regional road funds a while ago and have been allocating considerable funds for their work. I spent all of yesterday looking through the questions coming in, and I see that, despite the efforts, very many people have complaints about the state of our roads.
This is obviously not by chance, because I looked at the different issues people are raising, and road-related issues really account for a huge share of questions, which means that this is a real concern for people, not just in Omsk Region, but in other parts of Russia too. I looked at how the road funds are spending their money, and I see that the funds are quite substantial, but a lot of money is getting diverted to resolving other tasks.
The Government and I will think about this. In any case, I believe that what certainly needs to be done is, first, to make sure that road construction funds are used according to their intended purpose. Heads of Russian regions used to be against this approach, since for them these funds were and still are some kind of a piggy-bank, if I can say so, where they could source money to fund other purposes. In fact, they were not prevented by law from doing so. These funds should be earmarked specifically for road construction and overhaul, especially taking into account that no more than 10 percent of the road construction funds go towards overhauling roads. This was the first point.
My second point is about what else can be done within a short timeframe. A decision was taken to raise excise duties on motor fuel by two rubles. Initially we expected to channel all this revenue to regional road construction funds. However the Ministry of Finance, as it turns out, has a plan to transfer the proceeds from this two-ruble increase to the federal budget due to the well-known shortfalls with the budget. We have to keep in mind, that these are not easy times for the Ministry of Finance in terms of balancing the budget, as we will discuss later. I think that we need to find a compromise in this respect by maybe leaving at least one ruble in regional road construction funds. This would amount to some 40 billion rubles, and would hopefully improve road quality.
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
As for Omsk, of course, the city should benefit from improvements as it approaches its 300th anniversary, and even more so its road network. For that, Russian regions should adopt the same approach as we have on the federal level. Why not? I’m talking about the so-called full-service contracts: from road construction to maintenance and repair, so that companies will be incentivised to do a good job from the outset. I think that we should probably begin by adopting these measures, and this is what we are going to do in the near future.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Maybe we will return to this subject later on. This was a good start. Let’s now move to the studio. Everyone is waiting for us there.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you. Of course.
Natalya Yuryeva:As you have seen, this is the first time that we are taking live video calls. In order to ask Vladimir Putin a question, you need to download a free application, register (you may use your social media account) and press the call button.
This application has already been downloaded dozens of thousands of times, and we have over 10,000 video calls. As usual, operators in our call centre also accept pre-recorded video questions, and of course MMS messages at the number 0440.
Tatyana Remezova, reporter at VGTRK: Over this week of work the question processing centre has received hundreds of thousands of questions for the President. Our operators at the different call centres around the country have been working practically round the clock to process all the messages coming in. As the figures stand now, we have received nearly half-a-million calls and 400,000 SMS, and the total number of messages now comes to more than 2.3 million.
Let me remind you that you can put your question by calling the free number 8 800 200 4040, and the short number for SMS messages is 04040. Among our innovations this year is that you can send your questions via this programme’s official group on the social network VKontakte. Young people, people under thirty, have been making active use of this option. We have 20,000 registered users and more than 70,000 questions. This new option for communicating with the President has turned out to be very popular.
Let me remind you that the live broadcast on our site is accompanied by sign language interpretation.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Well, Russia has traversed another difficult year with the Western sanctions and the fall in oil prices. Of course, this has all had an impact on the Russian economy. The statistics show that for the first time in many years, we have had a drop in production, wages are coming down, and people are losing their jobs. Despite these difficulties, and in spite of everything, perhaps, Russia’s economy has pulled through and is certainly not in tatters, as your colleague [US President] Barack Obama predicted it would be.
Valeriya Korableva: The last year certainly brought its share of good things too, but the specific nature of this programme means that people seldom ask about the good things, they ask about their concerns, worries, and the things that went wrong. After all, the Direct Line programmes are above all a way to take a look at the issues of greatest concern to ordinary people.
When preparing for the Direct Line, we looked through lots of questions, many of which concern the economy – not economics but the economy in a more narrow meaning. For everyone is concerned about his or her personal budget, and many people have had to rethink their spending habits and have become more thrifty.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Let’s start with questions on essential issues. We are receiving them in the form of text messages and also via the internet.
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
Lyudmila Safronova from Moscow is asking about prices, of course: “Last year I spent 5,000 rubles on weekly food purchases for my family. A year later, that is today, the same amount costs 10,000 rubles, or twice as much, whereas the Government claims that inflation is only 12.5 percent. Whom should I trust – the Government or supermarket till receipt?”
Vladimir Putin: You should trust both, and here’s why. There is no contradiction. The Government is talking about the average annual inflation, which was 12.9 and not 12.5 percent last year. As for the different component parts making up this figure, the rise in food prices is a very large component. Last year, and especially early last year, food prices grew considerably, by about 14 percent, if memory serves, but in the third quarter the prices of basic foodstuffs decreased. Early this year, the growth was approximately 2.2 percent, which means the Government is not deceiving us. But 12.9 percent is a lot anyway.
However, we should pay special attention to the situation with food. Frankly, we are partially responsible for the growth of food prices. Why? Because we restricted the import of foodstuffs in response to the Western sanctions against Russia. We did this knowingly, expecting this to create conditions for the development of our agricultural industry and to set the market free. And this is what we are seeing.
Overall GDP has dropped by 3.7 percent, and industry posted a drop of 3.4 percent, but the agriculture sector grew by 3 percent. This sector plays a big part in our people’s life and our economy, given that 40 million people in Russia live in rural areas.
Overall though, looking at the long term, we think this will produce a positive effect, increase our food security, and create better conditions for life and work in the countryside as the prospects improve. I not only hope but am quite confident that what we are seeing now are temporary difficulties and gradually, as local products fill the Russian market, prices will come down. They will stabilise at least, as we are seeing it starting to happen now. Overall though, of course, I realise very well that these difficulties have placed a burden on ordinary consumers.
Valeriya Korableva: Yes, here’s a question precisely on these lines. “Everyone in Russia is trying to spend less and save where they can. What are you personally trying to save on? Tamara Georgiyevna, Moscow”.
Vladimir Putin: I try to save on time, the most valuable thing that we have.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Natalya Prikhodko from Moscow has a question: “The Government’s economic officials keep telling us that we have hit the bottom in the crisis and are now on the way up again. They’ve already said this 7 times. Where is the Russian economy now as you see it?” She’s making reference to the big news conference you gave, the one at the end of 2014, it seems, 18 months ago, and she asks, “Is the Russian economy going through a black period or a white period now?”
Vladimir Putin: It’s going through a grey period. Let me explain why. The difficulties have not completely faded yet, but we do see a positive trend at work. I said just before that our GDP dropped by 3.7 percent. This year, the Government expects a slight drop to continue, but they expect growth of 1.4 percent next year. Yes, in these terms, it is difficult to say exactly where the bottom lies, but the Government’s forecasts show us the outlines – we can expect a slight drop this year, but next year will bring growth.
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
I have this chart here with me so that I do not mess up any numbers. I have already mentioned GDP and industrial output. Unfortunately, there are also other negative developments that impact the people of Russia. We should never forget this and work on overcoming these trends. Specifically, real household disposable income declined by 4 percent, and real wages went down even more.
However, there are also encouraging, absolutely positive developments, such as, as I have already mentioned, a 3 percent increase in agriculture. Residential construction reached an all-time high last year of over 85 million square metres. This is a record.
The unemployment rate is still low in Russia at just 5.6 percent. It has inched up, although very slightly compared to the pre-crisis period. The maternity capital has been adjusted for inflation, and now stands at 453,000 rubles.
It should be noted that despite the fact that the price of oil has almost halved, Russia still has a trade surplus, which means that we make more than we spend. This surplus stands at 146 billion rubles, which is a good result. We still have our reserves. Russia’s international reserves have now recovered to the level of early 2014 and are equal to 387 billion rubles, while the deficit is at its minimum of 2.4 percent, which is below expectations.
Valeriya Korableva: Here is another question: it is said that Russia’s national reserves will last only one year. Will it be enough to get through the crisis?
Vladimir Putin: As I have just said, reserves have recovered. I’m talking about the reserves held by the Central Bank or the so-called international reserves of the state. They have recovered to early 2014 levels, and are actually a little higher than that. We had 385.5 billion rubles in early 2014, and now Russia’s reserves are equal to 387 billion rubles. The reserve funds managed by the Government (just to remind you, we have two funds of this kind: the Reserve Fund, as it is called, and the National Welfare Fund) have shrunk, but only slightly. As of today, they hold 50 and 71 billion dollars, respectively, or 10.5 percent of the country’s GDP.
What does this mean? This means that if we keep spending them in the same way as, say, last year, the reserve funds would last at least four years, even if they are not replenished and nothing is done to save them. That said, we expect the economy to grow next year, which means that we may not have to spend as much of our reserves. Maybe, we will not even have to spend as much as we already have. This goes to say that there should be no fears in this respect.
Having reserves in the amount of 10.5 percent of GDP means that if we stopped everything, and I mean, just did nothing, and just laid around the house all day, we could live for four months, and do nothing at all. The country can just freeze for four months and will still get along.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: I hope we won’t come to a standstill.
This question of when will the crisis hit the bottom is a real concern on people’s minds. Here’s another question: “Does it worry you that economic discussions boil down to three subjects now: when we will hit the bottom, when will oil prices rise, and should we print money or is there enough in the treasury? Meanwhile, technological change keeps taking place in the world, new markets emerge, and new trade alliances such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership are forming as alternatives to the WTO. Do you not get the impression that we have turned inwards, shut ourselves off, and could end up left behind in these global economic transformations?” This is a question from Oksana Stychinskaya in Lipetsk Region.
Vladimir Putin: Let me say to Oksana and everyone else who follows our economic developments closely that this is what gets discussed at the superficial level, in the media, but this is not the case of the expert community. You hear the discussion on the three main issues you named, to print or not to print money, oil prices, and so on.
In reality though, the real discussions have a different focus. The main issues are how to attract investment, make our economy more efficient, and ensure demand, in other words, how to raise people’s incomes. This is what the Government is at work on. We discussed just recently issues such as aid for the most vulnerable population groups. This is extremely important because people who were living below the poverty line had just started to do better, but now face new difficulties. This is a worrying situation and we see it and will definitely respond.
What does the Government plan in this area? Most important is not to print money but to change our economy’s structure. This is a very complicated undertaking, but we do have some positive movement in this direction, and this can be seen, for example, in the fact that industrial production has increased.
In February, we saw the first positive change in this trend, and we also saw that high-tech exports have increased compared to exports of natural resources. So you can see that in real life we certainly do not limit ourselves to the three issues you just named.
Valeriya Korableva: One more question on the same issue: is it true that Alexei Kudrin will become head of the Centre for Strategic Research and will prepare a new economic programme?
Vladimir Putin: Maybe Mr Kudrin and I don’t meet as often as we’d like to, but we still do so regularly.
I appreciate his past contributions to our economic development; he is definitely one of our best and most valuable experts. As you know, he refused to work in the administration, but I see now that his stance has changed a bit.
Our situation is not simple, and he is willing to do his part to deal with the tasks facing the country. We have agreed that he will work more actively at the Presidential Expert Council, possibly as a deputy chair. He can also work at one of the more effective agencies, including those created in the past, such as the Centre for Strategic Research, formulating a development strategy for the immediate future, the post-2018 period and a more distant future.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Let’s move from the economy to foreign policy. The Syrian campaign has definitely been a major success, which no one can deny.
Vladimir Putin: Are the three of us the only ones who’ll do the talking?
Yevgeny Rozhkov: No, we’ll give the floor to others, too.
Valeriya Korableva: Yes, we will.
Vladimir Putin: Ok.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: So, let’s talk about the Syrian campaign and Syria, all the more so since Russia’s achievements there have been really recognised around the world.
Our Aerospace Forces’ operations have seriously undermined the potential of ISIS, but the bulk of our forces have pulled out of Syria, though some of them are still there. Is it possible that the head of this terrorist hydra will grow back?
Vladimir Putin: Such a danger always exists if you do not pay enough attention to combating terrorism. We see that many countries suffer from this scourge: the Middle East, Asia, the United States, and European countries. As for Russia, we all know about terrorism and know what losses we have suffered in this fight, and the threat remains today.
But in Syria, it is not a case of that we simply got up and left, abandoning everything. Let me note that we did indeed withdraw a substantial portion of our forces, but we made sure that after our withdrawal, the Syrian army would be in a fit state to carry out serious offensives itself, with our remaining forces’ support. And we see that after our withdrawal, the Syrian army took Palmyra and a number of other important strategic towns.
The number of towns now enforcing the ceasefire has increased since our withdrawal. We hope very much that this ceasefire, with support from whichever quarter, including from Russia, will pave the road to a peace settlement. There needs to be a political process, to get everyone to agree, sit down at the negotiating table and adopt a constitution, and then on the basis of this constitution hold early elections and find a way out of the crisis.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: How long do you think it will be until Aleppo is liberated, and then Raqqa, ISIS’s heartland?
Vladimir Putin: The problem is that the situation with Aleppo is very complicated. Aleppo is a strategically important region in Syria. It is the second-biggest city and perhaps even the country’s industrial capital. The armed opposition is present there, and so is Jabhat al-Nusra, which is internationally recognised as a terrorist organisation. It is very hard to tell who is who there. They take different tactics in behaviour and are currently all trying to strengthen their own positions.
The Syrian army does not have to try to bolster its position, because it achieved what it wanted before the ceasefire was announced, with our help, and does not have to make such attempts now, but the opposition is trying to take back what it lost. Incidentally, it is not the Syrian army that is fighting there, but for the most part it is Kurdish groups and a few other armed groups. They are fighting each other and fighting the Kurds. We are following the developments closely and will do all we can to prevent any worsening in the situation.
Valeriya Korableva: Let’s go back to the question processing centre and Natalya Yuryeva.
Natalya Yuryeva, Channel One Russia: Thank you. Judging by the video questions that we are receiving here at the Centre, wage arrears is one of the most pressing and painful issues. This issue seemed to be a thing of the past, but during the crisis it has once again become a reality. People don’t have enough money to buy food, medicine, pay for utilities or make payments on their mortgages. In fact, this problem is relevant for almost the entire country. Workers building the Moscow metro, construction workers in Khakassia, workers of Dalspetsstroy in Khabarovsk, Elektoapparat plant in the Novgorod Region, the 20th Aircraft Repair Plant in St Petersburg, Sibvodokanal in the Kemerovo region, and bread bakers in Novosibirsk – all these people are not getting their salaries.
People are not asking for anything supernatural. All they want is to get the money they earned. I propose that we watch a video question submitted by Dmitry Dudkin from Chelyabinsk.
Dmitry Dudkin: Hello, Mr Putin. I’m calling you from the city of Chelyabinsk. My name is Dmirty and I work at the Uralavtopritsep plant. We work for the defence industry and make car trailers. The problem we have is that salaries are paid three months late and not in full, only in small amounts. This is devastating. My salary isn’t that big to begin with, and I have four kids.
Vladimir Putin: Dmitry, what did you say the company name is? (Can I see him on the screen again?)
Valeriya Korableva:He can’t hear you, this is a recorded question. The company is called Uralavtopritsep.
Vladimir Putin: Well, let’s see. Uralavtopritsep should be operating in the automobile industry. This sector is among those that has suffered the most from the crisis. Sales went down sharply. What is actually happening? To keep it short: the price of oil has dropped, and this led to a decrease in the orders from the oil and gas sector, for metals companies, and farther down the chain. Revenues declined.
As I have said, unemployment is at its minimal level and is very low. I see that many companies are trying not to lay off workers. It goes without saying that not paying salaries should not be an option either. As for this particular plant, I do not know of course what is going on there, but since it is related to the automobile industry…
Generally speaking, the Government’s anti-crisis plan envisages specific support measures for industries that have suffered the most. And the automobile industry is first on that list. Over 40 billion rubles were allocated to support this sector. Of course, all the available funds were earmarked for specific purposes, but I will talk to my colleagues, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade and its minister, to make sure that they pay attention to this company. Of course, we must help this company, if there is a possibility to do so.
What else can be the problem there? The problem can be that a some time ago, strangely enough, with the aim of supporting our manufacturers, we introduced the so-called scrappage tax, which increases the cost of final goods, but factoring in these support tools, should not in the final count make things worse but, on the contrary, should help them compete with foreign manufacturers.
Regarding the trailers that the plant manufactures, the scrappage tax also applies to them. It was introduced quite recently and I am not sure that this decision was thought out well enough. I believe that in this particular case the scrappage tax should be abolished for this type of product. We will definitely take this issue up with the Government. This should also help improve the company’s financial status. I promise that we will take a closer look at what is happening there.
Valeriya Korableva: It so happens that wage arrears are this year’s problem. In the regions.
Vladimir Putin: That’s right.
Valeria Korablyova: This did not happen before.
Vladimir Putin: There were arrears as well, but…
Valeria Korablyova: Not on this scale.
Vladimir Putin: No, not on this scale.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Let us take another phone call. Tatyana Remezova got it.
Tatyana, please go ahead.
Tatyana Remezova: Mr President, in addition to wage arrears, medicine is another sensitive issue. Here are some of the incoming messages, ”prices in pharmacies are like those in a jewellery stores“ from the Ivanovo Region; ”the greedy pharmacy mafia plunders defenceless people“ from Arkhangelsk. I see an incoming call on this subject, let’s try to bring it on the air. We have Dmitry from Moscow calling us.
Good afternoon, Dmitry, you are live on the air, please go ahead with your question.
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
Dmitry, Moscow: Good afternoon, Mr President. I have a question about medicine. My parents have complained to me that pharmacies do not carry inexpensive domestic medicines. Recently, I had a chance to see it for myself. Why is that pharmacies sell only expensive imported medicines? Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: I do not think that there are only expensive imported drugs on pharmacy shelves (by the way, some people prefer it that way). There are Russian-made medicines as well. Several years ago, we started a national pharmaceutical industry development programme. I am not sure about the exact number, but we set aside about 148 billion roubles to it. This year, we will release an additional 16 billion roubles.
What is happening in this sphere? First, I want to reassure you that, despite all the problems, the Government maintains constant focus on this issue, even if it may appear that no one is paying attention to it.
So, what is happening there? Indeed there is a certain decline in the production of cheap domestic drugs, about 2.5 percent, but this reduction affects only the selection of drugs. There are no reductions with regard to any chemical formulas, meaning that alternative drugs are becoming available. This part of inexpensive products, especially when it comes to critical drugs, is regulated by the state. In today's circumstances, when personal incomes are down in our country, the Government is implementing price controls. If, overall, the prices for these life-saving drugs rose by 8.8 percent in the past year, the prices for cheap medicines rose, I may be off with the number, but, I think, they rose by 16 percent.
What is this all about? The manufacturers claim that even such price increases are not enough to cover their costs. The fact that the Government limits price hikes and makes adjustments to rising prices causes manufacturers to lose money as they try to manufacture these medicines. Why? Because even though these are domestically produced drugs, their components (the so-called substance) are largely imported en masse from China, for instance. Given the exchange rate, this component cannot be compensated for by increasing prices.
In this regard, the Government has two ways of dealing with this problem: either to subsidise the industry – but here we need to make sure that we have enough funds in the budget to do so – or remove price restrictions to some extent. Perhaps, other solutions will be found within the next 45–60 days. In any case, the Government has been tasked to resolve this problem within the next 45–60 days. That's what I have to say on this issue.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: We have pharmaceuticals representatives here in the studio. Let’s ask them to choose between continued subsidising and price deregulation.
Vladimir Putin: Right here, in this studio?
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Yes, right here. Nailya, please introduce our next guest.
Nailya Asker-zade, VGTRK: One of our guests is Vitaly Oleinikov, co-owner of a pharmaceutical plant in the Samara Region, which produces popular medicines like Analgin and Bromhexine, and he claims that their medicines are of good quality. Let’s give him the floor.
Mr Oleinikov, what would you like to say?
Vitaly Oleinikov: Good afternoon. I’m Vitaly Oleinikov from the Ozon pharmaceutical plant, the city of Zhigulevsk, Samara Region.
To begin with, I don’t want to try to justify myself, as my colleagues and I have been working for the past 13 years to produce inexpensive and moderately priced medicines. We have been doing this honestly, and I can assure you of the high quality of our medicines.
My children and I personally take medicines produced at our plant, and I recommend them to my friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, Mr President was right when he said that a considerable number of our medicines have recently become unprofitable, and that we had to stop producing some of them.
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
The root cause is that we have to buy not just raw materials, but also accessory parts and equipment, abroad for foreign currency. You all know about the exchange rates. But the retail price ceilings have been fixed by the government and haven’t changed since 2009. What surprises me most in this respect is that the ceiling prices are different for Russian and foreign medicines. Sometimes…
Nailya Asker-zade: Mr Oleinikov, please remember that brevity is the sister of talent.
Vitaly Oleinikov: I can’t stop; I need to unload, really. Sometimes foreign medicines are 20 times more expensive than Russian medicines, don’t you see? Why is that?
The prices of raw materials have increased. Raw materials make up to 70 percent of the cost of cheap pills, and the pricing has doubled. But we still have to sell these pills at prices fixed in 2009. Who would sell at a loss? No one would. And so these pills are not produced, and their place at drugstores is taken by more expensive medicines, usually foreign ones. We’ve tried to draw attention to this problem more than once.
Nailya is stopping me, but let me take this opportunity to ask you please to do something about this issue. It is really a serious problem. I ask you first of all to give us the same conditions as our foreign partners, and second, this might sound a bit unexpected, but I think that price limits for the cheapest medicines in the low-cost segment should be abolished so as to encourage production of these medicines. You spoke about a compensation mechanism, but this is not a market mechanism as we see it, and it is hard to say just how it would be actually implemented. If we abolish the price limits, we would see cheap medicines on the pharmacy shelves, more of them, and our own pharmaceuticals industry would start doing better. If things continue as they are, our factories will shut down altogether.
Nailya Asker-zade: Thank you very much. Your question is clear.
Vladimir Putin: If prices rise too fast, the medicines will no longer be cheap. We need to find a balanced solution. I gave this instruction and the Government promised to find a solution within 6–8 weeks. We have just looked at the possible options for fixing this situation. Probably, we do need to find a balance here. But we cannot deny the fact that some companies really are working at the very limits of profitability, as our colleague said quite frankly just now. This is the reality. Costs in this cheap segment are around 50 rubles, isn’t this right?
Valeriya Korableva: We have an interesting SMS on just this subject: which medicines does the President take, imported or locally made?
Vladimir Putin:I try not to reach the point where I have to take medicines. I make an effort to play sport and lead a healthy lifestyle.
Valeriya Korableva: But if you do have to take medicines?
Vladimir Putin: If it comes to that, it’s usually a case of catching a cold or something, and I make sure I get my vaccinations in time, before the flu season starts.
Valeriya Korableva: But if there’s really no choice?
Vladimir Putin: Then I take what the doctor gives, a mixture of foreign and Russian medicines, no doubt, but it’s a very basic assortment. I think they are precisely the basic medicines you find in the low-cost segment.
Valeriya Korableva: Let’s continue with the studio and change the subject. I give the floor to Olga Ushakova.
Olga Ushakova: Thank you.
Mr President, I suggest that we return to foreign policy. Here in the studio today we have Andrei Bystritsky, head of the Valdai Discussion Club. I think he has a question for you on foreign policy.
Andrei Bystritsky: Good afternoon.
Just last September, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was considered your friend and Turkey almost a strategic partner. You opened the new building of the Cathedral Mosque in Moscow together. And now the friendship has ended abruptly, turning into what – enmity? Looking back, Ukraine, then Moldova, Georgia, and Turkey, other countries – it seems like we will soon find ourselves surrounded by enemies. Could Russia develop successfully in these circumstances?
Vladimir Putin: We are not surrounded by enemies and we will not end up in that position. This is absolutely out of the question. We have good, friendly relations with most countries. I am not even talking about effective organisations such as the SCO, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which is expanding by adding great powers, and our integration associations, the Eurasian Economic Union, BRICS and so on.
On the whole, we have good relations with our neighbours. We see Turkey as a friend, and the Turkish people as friendly people with whom we will definitely continue building good-neighbourly and friendly relations.
We have problems with certain political leaders whose behaviour is less than adequate as far as Russia is concerned, and we react appropriately. But we are still operating smoothly, as you can see, without any sudden moves. We have confidence in this policy of responding to any unfriendly actions towards Russia, because we should definitely respond, otherwise they will end up walking all over us. We do have a recent history of just that, and we will not allow a return to it. Yet, even keeping our interests in mind, we will certainly develop our relations with all our partners, including our neighbours.
Valeriya Korableva: Mr Putin, there is something else people are interested to know. Last year, you said you would come to the rescue of a drowning Obama. If you found Poroshenko and Erdogan drowning now, whom would you save first? Varya Kuznetsova, 12 years old. (Applause.)
Vladimir Putin: Varya, you have put me on the spot. I do not know what to say. I would say, you cannot save someone who has decided to drown. But of course we are ready to lend a helping hand and friendship to any of our partners, if they want to take it.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Turkey used to be the most popular destination for Russian holidaymakers. There were many charter flights to Turkey. Now most people go to Crimea. I suggest we switch to Crimea for our first live report with Nikolai Dolgachev.
Nikolai Dolgachev: We are now on Tuzla Island in the Republic of Crimea, where the construction site of the Kerch Strait Bridge is located. This mammoth structure is already taking a shape. It will be the longest and largest bridge in Russia, 19 kilometres.
Construction works are taking place at eight contemporaneous locations, including by sea, the Kerch Peninsula, the Taman Peninsula and Tuzla. All these locations will eventually be incorporated into a single transit passage and Crimea will be connected to the mainland, a much-anticipated moment for all the Crimean people.
Here with me is Yury Beskov, head of technical service. The works continue as we speak. What is happening?
Yury Beskov: Right now, we are using a concrete pump to fill the second support of the passage across the Kerch Strait with concrete. The first support is ready. As of today, some 500 piles have been driven into the ground. Here you can see metal pipe piles.
Nikolai Dolgachev: Do these figures show how deep the piles will be driven into the ground?
Yury Beskov: Yes, it is an intermediate value. The maximum depth will be around 90 metres.
Nikolai Dolgachev: Let’s have a look at the map and find where we are to understand the scale. This is the 19-kilometre stretch and where are we right now?
Yury Beskov: We are now right there, at the fourth location, Tuzla Island.
Nikolai Dolgachev: Is this the middle of the bridge?
Yury Beskov: Yes, it is the equator of the construction.
Nikolai Dolgachev: Thank you very much.
Tuzla sends greetings to Moscow. Good afternoon, colleagues. Good afternoon, Mr President.
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.
Nikolai Dolgachev: People from across Crimea came here to Tuzla Island to ask their questions. Please introduce yourself.
Olga Kuzenkova: Good afternoon, Mr President. Olga Kuzenkova, Palmira Palace, Yalta.
We, the people of Crimea, are really looking forward to the bridge opening. Crimea can and must be self-sufficient. As a representative of the travel industry, I would like to point out that we are now very busy preparing for the high season.
Crimean resorts offer a high level of hospitality and service. I would like to invite everybody from anywhere in our huge country to Crimea for rest and relaxation.
Vladimir Putin: Your question, please.
Olga Kuzenkova: Perhaps I will sound nosy but my question is: Mr President, when are you going to Crimea on holiday?
Vladimir Putin: I have not thought about it yet but I will definitely go to Crimea at some point, at least for several days, for some R&R as well. Thank you for the invitation.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: I would like to ask, if I may, about Turkey, since it has been mentioned several times as a tourist destination. I have vacationed there more than once with my family. The same goes for people I know. There are also a lot of questions about Egypt. So the question is when? When, in your opinion, will air service with Egypt and charter flights to Turkey resume? When will it happen?
Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin: First of all, I would like to respond about Crimea. I was happy to see how the construction of the bridge is progressing. I must say in all honesty that usually there is no shortage of candidates to build construction projects like this. But in this case, we could hardly find a company to take on this project, mostly because of the limited financing, as well as a number of other restrictions that contractors can face.
Nevertheless, we found a contractor that has gotten started and is successful. It went through the required selection procedures that were very strict, since the cost issue was at stake. The related Government agencies even succeeded in lowering the final price. I hope everything will be well done on schedule.
As for trips to Turkey and Egypt, it didn’t depend on us. While the reasons behind the restrictions were different in these two cases, the results were the same. Why different? In Egypt, the current authorities are fighting radicals, but it’s not always easy. We see what’s happening there. Hostilities take place on the Sinai Peninsula almost daily. The former government, which was removed from power by the current president, and its supporters are quite active in this respect.
Against this background we have no right not to tell people that visiting this country could be dangerous. What could be the possible solution? Together with the Egyptian authorities we must find a way to screen passengers, luggage, on-board meals and aircraft maintenance personnel so as to make the stay, arrival and departure of our citizens, including by air, safe and secure. So far, we have not been able to find a solution of this kind with our Egyptian colleagues, although Russian special services and law enforcement agencies are working with our Egyptian friends on this issue. This was the first point I wanted to make.
My second point is about Turkey. We are seeing a similar picture here, although, we believe that the current Turkish authorities are not so much fighting radicals as they are cooperating with them. However, the country’s domestic issues also make us consider security. A de facto civil war is underway in the south of the country.
We are trying not to notice it, and the international community pretends that it is not taking place. But this is a fact. Heavy weapons, tanks, artillery and so forth are being used. In addition, Turkey suffers from terrorist attacks almost every week.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: It happens all the time.
Vladimir Putin: Who can guarantee that it won’t happen to Russian tourists? We know for example that in countries like, say, Tunisia, some tourists came under fire right at the beach.
By the way, I’m more than sure that the Turkish authorities will strive to provide security for tourists, including from Russia, since tourism accounts for a substantial portion of budget revenues in this country. Last year, almost five million Russian tourists visited Turkey.
I have no doubt that they will try. But whether they will be able to actually do it, is another matter. For this reason, just like with Egypt, we had to tell our people that vacationing in Turkey is now dangerous.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: This means that we will have to spend our vacations in Crimea. Everything is fine there.
Vladimir Putin: Crimea and the Caucasus. There are also many other countries in the world. Why are these two so attractive? I suppose they are cheaper and not too far away. But still, there are many other countries.
Many countries are now trying to reduce the cost of a stay and lower rates. Russian companies are looking for cheaper holiday transport. We have to work on this.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Crimea is waiting for another opportunity to ask a question. Nikolai, we are waiting for your question on another subject.
Nikolai Dolgachyov: Yes, there are questions. Go ahead.
Yulia Yeryomenko: Good afternoon, Mr President.
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.
Yulia Yeryomenko: My name is Yulia Yeryomenko. I am a student at Crimean Federal University, a resident of the hero-city Kerch. At present, electricity is supplied for only several hours a day, but we are not that put off by this, because our children have started playing less with their electronic devices, reading more books and communicating with their parents. However, in spite of this, we are looking forward to the commissioning of the energy bridge. Tell us please when this will happen. Thank you.
Vladimir Putin: Regarding power distribution, just three or four days ago, Energy Minister Alexander Novak updated me on the progress on the energy bridge project.
As we remember, two lines have been laid. They are now in service. Today, a third line is to be commissioned. This is an additional 200 MW. On the whole, this is nearing a power transmission volume that was provided from Ukrainian territory. I believe a fourth line will be put into operation in two or three weeks at the latest. This is another 200 MW. This will add up to 800 [MW] along the energy bridge between the Caucasus and Crimea. This will fully meet the demand that was once met by Ukraine.
There was a problem related to the fact that since power supplies previously came from the north and reached Kerch, say, other regions on the leftover principle, the grids here are not of very good quality. The Energy Ministry thought about this. I hope it did, because the minister briefed me on this. They are commissioning corresponding substations and modernising the grid component. I hope everything will be done accordingly.
I would like to remind you, however, that in 2017 I believe another two units should be put into operation there, over 400 MW, and in 2018, another two units, each over 400 MW. In other words, Crimea will not simply have sufficient power supply but will be well-positioned to develop its economy and its social sphere.
Valeria Korablyova: Mr President, we have an urgent report here. At the very start, we spoke about roads. So Omsk officials have just announced that they will repair 21 roads by 1 May.
Incidentally, Omsk is not the only region. There are also problems in Volgograd, Chelyabinsk and Saratov.
Vladimir Putin: I hope the heads of these regions will also pay attention and we will definitely talk to them on this issue, as we will with the Russian Government, the Finance Ministry and the Transport Ministry regarding the issue of this extra ruble from the excise tax, which was supposed – or, to be more precise, which the Finance Ministry wanted to impound for the federal budget. I believe that they should be given to regional, road funds specifically and that this spending should be designated accordingly. We will see how it will work.
It is cold there now, right?
Nikolai Dolgachyov: The weather is windy today although yesterday it was very warm. The weather changes day to day.
Vladimir Putin: So you invite us to go spend a holiday there, but can you guarantee that everything will be all right?
Yulia Yeryomenko: We can, Mr President.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Valeriya Korableva: Thank you, Crimea.
While developing internal tourism and creating new infrastructure, we must not forget about the environment: 2017 has been declared the Year of the Environment. We have ecologists here in the studio. Let us give them an opportunity to ask their questions.
Vladimir Putin: By all means.
Valeriya Korableva: Vera, they are in your section. Please take over.
Vera Krasova: Indeed, there are many questions concerning the ecology, and environmental activist Eldar Neverov is willing to ask one of them. Good afternoon, please ask your question.
Eldar Neverov: Good afternoon, Mr Putin. I am Eldar Neverov, a businessman specialising in garbage and secondary raw materials. I am extremely worried that we have not yet created a comprehensive system of recycling solid wastes. In particular, we have not introduced separate waste collection in the current meaning of this procedure, when valuable secondary raw materials are sorted out from non-recyclable waste. As a result, our landfills are growing larger with non-degradable waste, which sometimes leads to environmental disasters.
So, maybe all of us – the authorities, business and the public – should roll our sleeves up and clean the country?
Vladimir Putin: Look, there is one of your colleagues, nodding in agreement. Give him the microphone, please.
A. Repik: Good afternoon, Mr Putin. I believe that Eldar has proposed a good idea. Thank you for declaring the Year of the Environment. Of course, we are waiting for the Year of the Entrepreneur, but I think we can make our country cleaner. The task is within our powers.
Vladimir Putin: Anyone else wishing to speak on the matter?
Remark: Good afternoon, Mr Putin. I am a member of parliament from the Astrakhan Region. We in Astrakhan are deeply worried about the situation in the lower reaches of the Volga. We are grateful to you for declaring the Year of the Environment. We joined hands with active members from the Russian Popular Front to stage a campaign in defence of the lower reaches of the Volga, which are the spawning ground for fish, the source of fresh water and are otherwise important for agriculture.
Mr Putin, I believe that the hydraulic structures in the Volga-Kama basin have not been adjusted to supply water properly, which mostly affects those who live along the Volga. I have found support among my colleagues in the State Duma and the United Russia party. We are collecting signatures and have held a campaign in defence of the Volga. We have collected over 50,000 signatures under a letter we plan to send to you. As of now, this is the key priority, and even the housing and utility problems have receded to second place. Absolutely everyone, both party members and the politically uncommitted, have supported my initiative. Mr Putin, this is really very important.
I am asking you to personally monitor the adjustment of the hydraulic structures in the Volga-Kama basin. Shallow waters affect navigation and the spawning of fish, and hence life. Water is life.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, I agree.
I will say a few words about the Volga and our other great rivers. Indeed, there is a problem, and it requires special attention on behalf of the regional and federal authorities.
This includes shipping traffic. In certain localities, I am not sure how it is going to be this time, but in the past few years a boat would arrive at a certain point, the passengers would disembark, then take a bus to cover that portion of their itinerary, and then re-embark on the boat, because the water was too shallow for the boat to negotiate it.
It is necessary to clean river beds. We must also pay attention to hydraulic facilities, which also pose problems. We are not going to discuss them now, but these problems have remained unresolved for years, if not decades.
Of course, it’s also a matter of the purity of water in the Volga delta, which is home to some wonderful and unusual fauna, including sturgeon. Do you know how wide the Volga delta is? 290 kilometres. It is one of the world’s largest deltas comparable to the Mississippi. This is a universe of its own, and, of course, it needs our special attention.
Now, with regard to waste. It is indeed a problem. Our country is faced with a waste problem. We are producing about 5.4 or 5.6 billion tonnes of waste yearly, and only half of it is recycled. The rest is simply buried. That second half, which goes into the ground or is simply dumped somewhere, is out of control and has become a highly criminalised business.
In this regard, it is imperative to improve regulations and raise the awareness of the regional authorities to this problem. Of course, the public should monitor this, because sometimes people have to live near such dumps, and their lives become unbearable. I would like to ask the Russian Popular Front to focus on this. Given the high levels of criminal activity in this area, it is indeed front-line work without exaggeration.
Now, with regard to these plants and what needs to be done. A law was adopted in November or December 2014. However, these plants can be built, and they will work efficiently, and everything will be economically feasible if the so-called environmental fee is collected. This fee will be collected beginning in 2017. Why? Precisely because of our ongoing economic difficulties, so as to not put too much of a burden on the manufacturers, so that they do not cut jobs and can pay employee salaries in a timely fashion. There are many problems regarding these most sensitive and most important areas for our citizens.
The Government crunched the numbers and realised that if we ask them to pay a disposal fee on top of everything else, the industry will find it extremely difficult to comply, but it should be introduced in the early 2017 anyway. There are three ways to go about it (I will be done with this shortly).
First, those who produce the waste, the large and self-contained enterprises, can build recycling plants themselves.
Second, if a waste-producing enterprise is unable to take care of its waste, it can pool its resources with other enterprises of a particular region and hire an operator.
Third, if doing so does not make any economic sense for the private sector, because the payback period is too long, the state itself should go ahead and build such plants. However, the issue here is about complex waste, such as batteries, industrial waste, television sets, refrigerators, and so on.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: We’ve been working for an hour now, and it wouldn’t be fair to stay only in the studio. We’ve already had 2.5 million calls. Let’s hear another call.
Let’s cross to the question processing centre and Tatyana Remezova. Tatyana, you have the floor.
Tatyana Remezova: Thank you, colleagues.
Mr President, we know that you are no fan of questions about your personal life and make a point of not discussing this subject, but we have so many questions of this sort that we cannot simply ignore it altogether. For some reason, this subject particularly interests your fellow St Petersburg people, so let’s try hearing a call live now from Alexandra Kozlova in Gatchina.
Good afternoon, we’re listening to you.
Alexandra Kozlova: Hello, Mr President.
Vladimir Putin: Hello.
Alexandra Kozlova: I have a question about your personal life. The newspapers wrote recently that your former wife Lyudmila remarried. When will you present to us a new First Lady?
Vladimir Putin: Lyudmila and I see each other sometimes, not often, but we do meet, and we have very good relations, perhaps even better now than they were before. I know that all is well with her. As for what the newspapers write, that is another issue. But I know that she is happy with her life and all is well. I am also happy, and all is well with me too.
I’m not sure that we ought to turn the spotlight on the matters you raised just now. You never know how they might affect the exchange rate or oil prices. Speaking seriously though, people elect deputies to the State Duma and elect a president in order to have them work.
The things you talk about, matters concerning personal life, do interest people of course, and I have long since learned to live with this and I understand this interest, but these things are nonetheless not of paramount importance. Perhaps the moment will come when I will be able to satisfy your curiosity. Thank you for your question.
Valeriya Korableva: Well, let’s talk about doping now.
Vladimir Putin: About what?
Valeriya Korableva: About doping, a sensitive issue. We were always proud of the success of our athletes. They were recognized leaders in many sports for many years but now we are being told that many victories were achieved dishonestly. We have both fans and athletes in our studio. Let’s give them an opportunity to speak their mind.
Vladimir Putin: Fine.
Valeriya Korableva: Olga, let your section have the floor.
Olga Ushakova: Yes, Valeriya, you noted quite rightly that this issue is worrying not only representatives of the sports community but also millions of fans all over the country because sport is a unifying force, and we do have people of different walks of life here today. Many are interested in this issue. Thus, businessman Yan Berezin arrived here today with a question about sport rather than business.
Yan Berezin: Good afternoon, Mr Putin. I am Yan Berezin from Moscow, the Leaders’ Club.
It is perfectly obvious that there are some things that unite all of us although we are unique, and sport can play a key role in this. We are always glad to see them, we cheer for them, our stars, for their victories when they represent Russia in the international arena.
To be honest, this outrageous scandal over Meldonium is infuriating. It has been going on for several months now. It is still unclear what it will lead to. They are going to deprive our athletes of their status and their careers may even come to an end. What will then happen with the sports leaders of our country? What will happen – maybe some punishment? Honestly, I speak from my heart, as it goes.
Olga Ushakova: No, from the bottom of my heart.
Vladimir Putin: Is Mutko giving you English lessons? (Applause.)
Yan Berezin: God forbid, no.
Vladimir Putin: You do not take lessons from him do you?
Yan Berezin: No.
Vladimir Putin: As regards this Meldonium, so much has been said about it already. It has never been listed as a doping agent. It is absolutely certain that Meldonium does not enhance results. It simply keeps the heart muscle in good shape during a heavy work load but for some reason it was suddenly put on the list.
Basically, Meldonium was invented back in the Soviet Union, in Latvia, as we now know. I did not know this myself before. The inventor never considered it doping – it is used in medicine on a large scale, by the way.
Most important, when it was included, there was no authenticated information on how quickly it could be excreted from the body. I think now WADA has adjusted its decisions– literally yesterday or the day before, recently anyway. I do not believe this decision had political connotations although Meldonium was used only by athletes from Eastern Europe, former Soviet countries, and Eastern Europe in general because it originated there, was produced and is still being produced, but it has never been regarded as doping.
To be continued.